Man O'War Vineyards, Waiheke Island

I was first introduced to the wonders of Waiheke Island last year when I tasted Man O’War’s 2007 Dreadnought from an Enomatic machine in the Queenstown Wine Shop while spending a few days with Chard Farm in Central Otago. I was pretty impressed, particularly when I discovered that it was their first truly commercial vintage.  However it would be another year before I realised quite how exciting a project it was we had stumbled across that day.

Man O’War station is the amalgamation of five farms on the eastern end of Waiheke Island, the second largest of the islands in New Zealand’s Hauraki Gulf, and covers around 4,500 acres or roughly a fifth of the total island. It has been in family hands for over thirty years  and although it is primarily run as a sheep and cattle station, the family have always been looking to protect and conserve the dramatic array of coastal hillsides, high cliffs and pristine beaches; indeed great areas have been fenced off and planted with over a hundred thousand native trees and plants. 

As part of this gentle stewardship of Man O’War station some vines were planted in the 90’s.  However, it has only really been since 2001, and the arrival back from America of the new generation, that the project really took off. Having worked in Los Angeles and become a shareholder in a small Napa property, the owner became convinced that the steeper hillsides on the property with their iron rich clay soil offered huge opportunities for Syrah and Bordeaux varietals. 

There are now around ninety vineyard plots planted with a mix of varietals spread across the station utilising the steepest slopes and precarious cliff top locations; each varietal is suited and matched to the topography, with whites on the higher cooler sites and the reds on the best drained lower slopes. 

Since 2008 the winemaking has been further bolstered with the addition to the team of Duncan McTavish, ex Pegasus Bay in the Waipara, and a veteran of numerous northern hemisphere harvests. His clear vision and expertise in the winery has led to each plot being vinified separately and tracked through to the final blends. 

Stocks have now arrived of their two ranges; the white label range offering classic varietal character and vibrant fruit, while the flagship black label wines are reflections of the greatness that Waiheke Island has to offer and will both impress now and reward further cellaring.

 We are delighted to add these wonderful wines to our portfolio and look forward to showing them to as many people as possible in the coming months.

A little extra history on Man O'War, taken from a new leaflet on the subject:

The Man O’ War story begins with a special piece of land which has a rich history. Located at the Eastern End of Waiheke Island, Man O’ War is a stunning array of coastal hillsides with high cliffs and pristine beaches forming a ruggedly beautiful coastline. It was along this coastline that Captain James Cook came to anchor during his first voyage around the island of New Zealand in 1769. Upon sighting the ancient stands of magnificent Kauri trees ashore, Cook noted in his journals that they would make ideal masts for the “Man O’ War” warships for the Royal Navy. The Royal Navy designated the Bay as a wood and water station based on Captain Cook’s findings and as such all royal navy ships called into the Bay for wood (for use as masts and spars) and water for their adventures. Thus the name Man O’War was bestowed upon this unique land. Continuing this military history theme, Man O’ War is the site of the Stony Batter Coastal Defence battery which was built during World War II to protect Auckland from Japanese invasion. It was completed after the war, guns only fired once and then sold somewhat ironically to the Japanese as scrap iron after the war!

To help honour and respect our military history, we have dedicated our Flagship (Reserve) wines to important Man O’ War battle ships and associated historical references: Ironclad (Bordeaux Blend) ~ is named in honour of the 19th Century warships characterised by the iron armour bolted onto their wooden hulls, much as iron courses through the veins of our warm clay hillside vineyards. Dreadnought (Syrah) ~ the first in a line of early 20th century battleships bestowed with the motto “fear god and dreadnought” and embodying a supreme combination of speed and power, Dreadnought denotes our steepest and most breathtaking hillside Syrah vineyards. Valhalla (Chardonnay) ~ the shining and golden hall in Norse mythology where the souls of fallen Viking warriors chosen by Odin feasted with the gods, the name Valhalla is conferred upon our finest barrels of Chardonnay selected by our winemaker each year. Gravestone (Sauvignon blanc / Semillon) ~ named for boulders surrounding the gravestone vineyard (stony batter boulders) and denotes our Bordeaux “graves” style or tone style of Sauvignon blanc.